Noor is Mohamed Sultan’s new Mediterranean-Japanese spot for big nights out

Some restaurants want you in and out within the hour. Noor wants the opposite. 

Opened on July 1 on Mohamed Sultan Road, this new 65-seater is already making a case for the slow dinner — where mezze plates keep arriving, conversation stretches, and nobody’s rushing you off to make way for the next seating.

The cooking leans Mediterranean — think tahini, labneh, harissa, Greek honey — but every so often, a Japanese ingredient slips in, almost as an aside: A dab of miso folded into hummus, yuzu brightening a labneh, or sushi rice sneakily hidden under a scoop of tuna tartare.

Where Mediterranean warmth meets Japanese finesse

Noor means “light” — in Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Malay, and Swahili — and once you know that, the restaurant’s whole approach clicks into place. This place is built around warmth and generosity, with most dishes on the menu made for convivial and communal dining.

Chef and co-owner Titus Thamil, who leads the kitchen, has described the menu as a reflection of his own path through Mediterranean cooking, layered with the Japanese influences he’s picked up along the way — and that dual fluency shows up as second nature throughout the meal.

The dining room itself is designed for that unhurried pace, with warm lighting, an open kitchen, and comfortable seating that invites you to settle back and enjoy the evening.

And tucked just beyond the main space is a 10-seat izakaya — easy to miss, deliberately so — well-suited to small groups looking for a little more privacy.

Alternatively, this space serves as a nook for a pre- or post-meal drink, along with a smaller selection of small bites.

The dishes worth returning for

A little on how to navigate the menu: Noor is built for sharing, so expect small mezze plates from S$5, cold and hot appetisers hovering around S$18 to S$24, and large plates climbing from S$25 up to S$68 for the showstopping Mia Zaki wagyu.

If you’re dining as a table of four, we’d suggest ordering across the categories, rather than doubling up on large plates — a couple of mezze, two or three cold/hot plates, and one large plate to anchor the meal — to hit the right balance without over-ordering.

On the drinks side, the six signature cocktails (from S$23) are worth exploring before defaulting to wine, especially if you’re keen to taste where the Mediterranean and Japanese influences properly collide.

We started with the arak yuzu (S$23), which is not one to rush: It’s made with Lebanese arak (a distilled spirit of the anise drinks family), red grapefruit, yuzu, and honey — it’s alcohol-forward and hits almost immediately, although the mild sweetness does round out every sip.

We’d still recommend sipping this one slowly, rather than indulging in it from the get-go.

The Kyoto sour (S$24), on the other hand, made for a better opener: Glenfiddich 12 whisky, yuzu, lemon, Greek honey, and egg white make for a mellow, subtly sweet drink — one that gently opens up the appetite.

With drinks sorted, a few dishes from the spread stood out enough that we’d happily order them again on a return visit.

First up, the shok bread (S$16), Noor’s take on Japanese shokupan, is impossibly pillowy and warm, and dangerously easy to keep reaching for, once the accompanying tahini and matbucha — a slow-cooked North African condiment made with cooked tomatoes and roasted bell peppers, seasoned with garlic and chilli peppers — are in play.

You won’t miss the butter — trust us.

For something lighter, the kyuri salata (S$19), a take on a refreshing Japanese cucumber salad, does its job well. Served as a cooling, textural stack of Persian cucumbers — which we swear felt way crunchier and less watery than other cucumbers we’ve had — it offers a welcome palate reset between richer bites.

Visually, it might seem too plain for most, but we reckon the seaweed aioli brought a lot of umami to this otherwise underwhelming vegetable.

Then there’s the Mediterranean ramen (S$26), which came highly recommended and we honestly can’t stop thinking about. The tahini-spiked chicken broth is silky and well-balanced in its own right, rounded out with bamboo shoots and a soft-boiled egg.

However, the real draw is the smoked char-grilled mussel skewer served alongside — each mussel smoky, plump, and so good that we’ve already floated the idea to Noor’s team of listing it as a standalone appetiser. We’d order a plate of just those, given the chance.

On the heartier end, the short rib wagyu (S$48) delivers, with slow-braised meat that’s undeniably tender. It’s paired with babaghanoush — finely chopped roasted eggplant, olive oil, lemon juice, various seasonings, and tahini — and a pomegranate molasses that cuts nicely through the richness, rounded off with pine nut couscous.

Every drop of gravy deserves to be drizzled atop that couscous. And if you’re not one for sharing, we’d say the ramen and this wagyu dish could each hold their own as a satisfying one-person meal, too.

To close things off on a sweeter note, the kuro shokolata (S$19) is worth saving room for: A chocolate mousse tucked into delicate cocoa tuile tubes over a truffle toffee base that’s indulgent without tipping into heaviness.

While most chocolate desserts might overwhelm and end up feeling one-note, this one carries a prominent saltiness that’s welcoming and appreciated — rich, yes, but never imposing. It’s the best kind of sweet ending we could ask for.

Not a date night, but a great night

Here’s the thing worth knowing before you book a table at Noor: This is not a date night restaurant. By around 9pm on the weeknight we visited, the hip-hop and R&B playlist had been cranked up several notches, drums came out, and servers made their way around the room pouring a mixed liquor straight into diners’ mouths.

Between the music and the crowd’s own volume, the energy was unmistakable, and conversations across the table meant leaning in close.

The food and drinks are genuinely solid enough to anchor an evening on their own, but the room is clearly built for a crowd that’s heading somewhere louder afterwards — or happy to let the night unfold right there.

If you’re looking for a pre-party spot with real culinary chops behind it, Noor delivers. Just don’t go in expecting candlelight and hushed conversation.

This was a hosted tasting.

For more ideas on what to eat, check out our review of Centro, Shaw Lido’s new all-day restaurant, and what to eat at Holland Village Market & Food Centre.